Responses

Mr. Stravitz writes, “To me it’s a spaceship that landed in 1929 (during the crash) and is still just visiting this otherwise primitive civilization called Earth. It’s good for us it landed in New York that was a site of the old East Post Road. Remember, in 1928-1930 there was nothing to compare with this genius of design. Look at the boxy cars against this Deco masterpiece.”

David Stravitz says of the Chrysler Building, “To me it’s a spaceship that landed in 1929 (during the crash) and is still just visiting this otherwise primitive civilization called Earth.”

Mr. Stravitz, a product designer, has invented and produced a wide variety of consumer and institutional products — audio, video, storage, waste management, crafting devices, hardware — for his company, the Great Notions Corporation. Mr. Stravitz’s latest series of inventions have resulted in the introduction of a new and improved baby diaper pail, as well as items involving waste containment pails for the medical and health care industry.

One of his passions is photography, which led to the discovery of 500 8×10 negatives of old New York from 1910 to 1948, including more than 150 images of the day-by-day construction of the Chrysler Building. To date, two books resulted from this discovery: “The Chrysler Building, Creating an Icon Day by Day” (Princeton Architectural Press-2002) and “New York, Empire City 1920-1945” (Harry N. Abrams 2004).

Mr. Stravitz lives in New York with his daughter, Alison, and his wife, Amy.

The Chrysler Building is magnificenty unique however viewed near or afar.
Who owns and operates it now?
Are there ever guided tours for people who don’t normally have business dealings that bring them into this New York City Landmark/Treasure?

What’s happening with the Cloud Club? I’ve read at various times over there last few years that there was interest in opening it to the public again, but nothing ever seems to happen. I was fortunate to see it for my self a few years ago. It’s an incredible space and unlike anything else in the city. I can’t help but believe it would be an instant hit.

My opinion of the Chrysler Building is that it is the most exuberant and beautiful building in NYC, and perhaps in the US. I have been disappointed not to be allowed in to see inside the building in the post-9/11 world. (The last time I tried was 2003, however, so maybe things have changed?) Is there a way to get in, individually or as part of a tour, to see the inside of the building?

Why was the current landlord permitted to demolish the beautiful, historic art-deco speakeasy that was built on some of the uppermost floors of the building?? As I understand it, this was destroyed to make way for office space. So sad.

Along with the Empire State Building, these buildings are in my opinion true realized, ideas of what “Architectural Icons” are. Buildings that come to be loved over time and through their uniqueness. Whether it be the “style”, scale, or meaning. I know the times are different and the ideas of what an “Architectural Icon” is has changed, but I cannot ignore the feeling I get when I see such buildings compared to the forced symbolic buildings architects try to create today. It becomes more about the big shots name than the actual architecture and building itself. These buildings were pure architectural statement on not just the city scale or the country, but on a Universal scale for all to see and know. I love this building.

It’s probably interpretive memory of an urban legend overheard after several martinis but did I once hear that the outside zig-zag lights at the crown were dark for years following WWII because the switch had been covered over?

I don’t know what it is about the Chrysler Bldg. that so enthralls. I have always thought it the most interesting sky-scraper in my experience. There is something about the relationship of the proportions of its four stages, the sturdy multiform base, the principal shaft, the secondary shaft, and then the deco flowering of the summit of the building that is stunningly organic. Many plant stems gradually extend themselves & bud in much the same fashion. Can it be that in the end harmonious proportion married to design based on nature is what pleases the eye? Looking forward to your book, and thank you. – HF

I once heard from a cousin of mine that our grandfather, (for whom I am named), was one of the early tenants in the Chrysler Bldg. Is there any historical database I could consult to identify the tenants from the 1930s? Thank you.

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